A former Waldwick police officer who has admitted stealing more than more than $321,000 by collecting a disability pension — while he was still working full-time as an officer in Georgia — will serve just under a year in jail.

John Robert Marion, 44, of Valdosta, Ga., pleaded in November Thursday to a charge of third-degree theft by deception before Superior Court Judge Peter E. Warshaw in Mercer County.

Under a plea agreement accepted by a judge late last week, he'll serve 364 days in a  county jail as a condition of a term of a four-year probation. He must pay full restitution of $321,008 and is permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey, acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.

“It’s reprehensible that this officer, who took an oath to uphold the law, fraudulently collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from a disability pension on top of the full-time salary he received in Georgia,” Hoffman said, announcing the sentencing. “He selfishly drained away assets that are needed to pay the legitimate pensions of officers who courageously continue to serve the people of New Jersey.”

 

Authorities say Marion was employed as a police officer in Waldwick from 1998 through March 2008, when he retired on a disability pension, claiming medical and stress-related conditions. His disability pension was approved in August 2008, but made effective as of April 1, 2008.

Until his pension was terminated earlier this year, Marion collected approximately $3,614 per month in disability pension benefits from the New Jersey Police and Fire Retirement System, authorities have said.

But officials say that since August 2009, Marion has held successive positions as a law enforcement officer in Georgia with the Clinch County, Echols County and Lowndes County Sheriffs’ Offices. He applied for a special aAgent position with the South Georgia Drug Task Force just four days after his disability pension was approved in New Jersey, authorities say.

With the exception of about five months in 2010, he has been continuously employed since August 2009 without any restrictions on his duties, Hoffman has said.

He currently suspended from his job as an investigator for the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.

Marion lied to the Division of Pensions after it learned of his employment in Georgia, saying he hadn't worked except as a store clerk and delivering furniture for a relative, Hoffman has said.

“We’re working closely with the Division of Pensions and Benefits and the State Police to safeguard the state’s pension funds and send a strong deterrent message that this type of fraud will not be tolerated,” Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice, said. “We urge anyone with information about pension fraud to contact us confidentially so that we can hold those involved accountable.”

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